To:
General Mills Chairman and CEO Kendall J. Powell

Tell General Mills’ Chairman: Remove GMOs From ALL Cereals — Not Just Cheerios

People have the right to know that their food is safe, especially when it comes to children’s breakfast cereals. Removing GMO ingredients from Cheerios was a great first step, but it doesn't go far enough. Publicly announce an aggressive timeline for removing Genetically Modified Organisms from all of your company’s cereals.

Why is this important?

General Mills recently announced some great news: Cheerios will now be made without any genetically modified ingredients. But genetically modified organisms are still lurking inside other General Mills cereals like Chex, Honey Nut Cheerios, Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms.

As America’s largest packaged food brand, General Mills is part of a landscape of companies that oppose our right to know what’s in our food. GMOs have not received adequate testing, and big businesses have spent millions to defeat grassroots efforts to label GMOs in several states. Still, genetically modified organisms fill our grocery store shelves even as this drama plays out, effectively turning the U.S. population into unwilling participants in a giant science experiment.

We have a right to know that the foods we are putting into our bodies are safe. Until GMOs receive proper testing, no major food company should sell us foods with genetically modified ingredients. This is especially true with brands that are most popular among families with young children. General Mills should set an example for other companies in its industry by eliminating GMOs from all its cereal brands.

When consumers first spoke up to protest GMOs in Cheerios, General Mills hinted that removing genetically modified ingredients would be impossible. But in the face of consistent pressure, the company found a way to get it done. In a statement, the company said: “We made investments in new systems at our production facilities to separate the ingredients we use to make original Cheerios from our other products.”

But it is still insisting that the change would be too hard for Honey Nut Cheerios, Chex, and Golden Grahams. “For our other cereals, the widespread use of GM seed in crops such as corn, soy, or beet sugar would make reliably moving to non-GM ingredients difficult, if not impossible.” General Mills has to ask themselves, "If GM ingredients were too dangerous or untested to use in Cheerios, then what makes us think they're acceptable for our other cereals?"

General Mills must eliminate GMOs from its cereals with more complex recipes – not because it will be easy, but because it is the right thing to do. The company changed their sourcing practices in the face of consumer pressure once. They can do it again, but only if we apply enough pressure to their company’s leadership.